EUGENE — Keira McCarrell's long journey this season brought her to Hayward Field on Thursday for the NCAA track and field championships.

Unfortunately for the freshman javelin thrower from West Salem High School, she was not at her best.

McCarrell had been fighting a cold since the middle of last week, and she felt exhausted leading up to Thursday's event.

"I'm just coming off a really strong cold that I've had for about a week," she said. "It's just been a little exhausting."

McCarrell's best throw of the day was 141-3, and she finished 23rd in the national competition. Her mark was far shorter than the 171-1 she threw at the NCAA West Preliminary Round that qualified her for the NCAA meet.

"I made it here, and that was awesome," McCarrell said. "Last meet here at Hayward Field, I wish I could have had more throws. Nothing was really coming together, and normally it does. I think I just tried to muscle too hard and get that big PR that got me here, and that was my biggest mistake."

During the outdoor season, McCarrell was competing in the heptathlon and the javelin.

However, at the Pac-12 championships, McCarrell pulled up with a strained hamstring during the heptathlon's 200-meter event.

"I was really excited to attack at Pac-12s, and I was really attacking in my 200, and then it just happened," she said. "I've never been injured before, so it was just a shock. The recovery process was really a slap in the face, to be honest, because I had never been hurt before."

After the injury, McCarrell had her personal-best throw of 171-1 in the javelin May 24 at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Sacramento, which allowed her to reach one of her biggest goals of the season — making it to the NCAA championships.

This is the final time that Hayward Field is hosting the NCAA meet in its current configuration — the facility is scheduled to be torn down and replaced by a new state-of-the-art facility.

The construction is being done in order to meet the specification requirements for hosting the 2021 World Championships.

Up next for McCarrell is the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships, where she will compete for Canada in Finland from July 10-15.

"This isn't my last meet for the season, so I'm not that upset about it," McCarrell said. "I just wish I could have done better, but that's OK."

Despite the adversity she faced in the NCAA meet, McCarrell is happy about her freshman year with the Ducks, and she looks forward to the process of setting goals for next season.

"I'm really excited to evaluate what's been going on," she said. "I've exceeded many expectations. I was aiming for (the NCAA meet), I was aiming to PR, and I was aiming to go to Worlds, and I had all three of those. It was amazing."